5 Vases Every DIY Floral Designer Must Have

Fly Me To The Moon Florists

"Once you learn how easy it is to throw together an elegant arrangement, you'll never want to live without one again."

Carlos Mota

Arranging flowers the way they do in books and magazines is not always as easy as it seems. But you can learn a lot by studying them. You've got to have the right flowers, cut to the right height in the right vase.

Image: Fly Me To The Moon Florists

There are 5 basic vases every budding DIY floral designer must have. Four clear glass vases and one you can't see through in your favorite color and shape.

Vase Types

It's not easy figuring out which vase you need to get the look you want. They come in so many sizes, shapes, colors and textures.

Select The Right Vase

Knowing the correct vase to use to get the look you're going for takes 3 things:

1. training your eye for great floral design

2. practice

3).having the right vase for your flower arrangement

Begin With Vases You Already Own

Start by looking in your cabinets. You probably have clear glass vases in a variety of shapes and sizes. Great! Now pick out the 5 basic vases listed below and donate what you don't want or need.

Be on the look out for the shapes you don't have at flea markets, thrift shops and the homes of friends and family.

The 5 Basic Vases

Image: Crate and Barrel

1. Classic Vase - A clear glass vase that is narrow at the neck and full on the bottom. Get one with an opening of approx 4" and about 8" tall. The classic vase will give your flower arrangement a more traditional look depending on the flowers you use.This vase is good for mixed bouquets or a large bunch of the same kind of flower preferably in the same color.

Hold the flowers right in front of the vase with the flowers exactly where you want them to be in the vase. Cut them a bit longer than you want them then see how they look in the vase. If you cut them too short the first time there's no room for correction.

I like to cut flowers so that the flower heads are practically resting on the neck of the vase. This makes the flower arrangement look lush and full. If you want a taller flower arrangement, you may want to cover the stems with a nice foliage like salal (lemon leaf). You can get this from your florist.

Image: Kabloom

2. Cylinder Vase - A cylinder vase is a straight column of glass. The larger the opening of the vase, the more flowers you'll need. A vase with an opening of about 3.5" and 8" tall is a good basic size.

This vase creates a clean modern look especially for the more architectural flowers like lilies, calla lilies and exotic flowers. Roses, considered a romantic flower look ultra modern in a cylinder vase.

Image: Crate and Barrel

3. Cube Vase - A 5" x 5" square vase made of clear glass. Great for making a mixed flower arrangement of short flowers and foliage. The cube vase will give your flower arrangement a modern look.

This vase is often lined with a large Ti leaf to cover the stems and floral foam. You can place flowers uniformly into this vase without foam if you like. Use a ceramic cube vase if you don't want to see flowers stems or floral foam.

Image: Flowers and Supplies

4. Bud Vase - A vase that traditionally holds a single stem with or without foliage. If the stems are thin, you can actually put a small bunch of flowers into a bud vase.

Create a simple designer look by placing a single dramatic flower in a bud vase. Lilies are a great flower for this look.

Image: decorpad

5. Ceramic Vase - Can be one of the shapes listed above or an entirely different one. Use this vase when you want to introduce more color into your flower arrangement. It also works well when you don't want to see flower stems.

Be sure to change the water every other day in a ceramic vase. It's easy to forget when you can't see the water.

so those are the basic 5 vases I think every DIY floral designer should have on hand.

What type of vase do you use for your flowers?

Mimi

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